120 travelers at this place:

After a longer than expected stay in Nazaré, because there was so much to see around there and the weather was very changeable, we headed south to an Ecoparque site at Outão, on the Setúbal Peninsula, an hour from Lisbon.

Our site, just outside the busy town and port of Setúbal (birthplace of José Mourinho) is set on the shores of the Sado estuary, home to bottlenose dolphins and flamingoes. We have a great view of the estuary and watch in amazement as ships, guided by local pilots, navigate through the sandbanks while locals fish with three rods from their pedalo canoes.

Behind us is the Parque Natural da Arrábida, covering the 35km-long Serra da Arrábida mountain range, which provided us with panoramic vistas across to Lisbon on one side and the beaches and estuary on the other as we made our way across it on the motorbike in search of dinosaur footprints!

We took the coast road as far as we could to Cabo Espichel and admired the lighthouse that stood tall above the sheer cliffs. It would have guided us, as it did many others, when we were making our journey south in the boat years earlier. It is in this area that it is possible to see dinosaur footprints embedded in the limestone cliffs but with neither time nor the weather for that on our side, we headed inland to a more accessible site at Zambujal.

Years earlier, local quarrymen came across some strange markings in the stone they were working on. Further investigation revealed that these were dinosaur footprints that were 150 million years old! We couldn't even imagine something of that age but the storyboard explained how, from the footprints, the experts were able to work out the size, age and speed of the dinosaurs.

The area is also full of gastronomic specialities so we could be here for some time........Read more

As well as a great location, Setúbal and the surrounding area has lots to offer to tempt the taste buds.

Sardine fishing, processing and canning was once a huge employer in the town with over 140 factories which did everything from processing the fish to making the tins and then decorating them using lithography to create very attractive labels before they were exported all over the world. Today they are no more but one of the factories has been turned into a museum showcasing life in those days and includes a 1920's shop that was transported from Lisbon to go on show here.

As well as sardines, the town is famous for its choc frito - deep-fried cuttlefish. Every restaurant sells it, there is a cuttlefish jumping out of a frying pan statue on the main street and the market is full of them. They resemble ginormous squid and, whilst we love squid, I really didn't think I would like what looked like huge pieces of deep-fried rubber, but I was wrong and they were tender and juicy especially accompanied by a glass or two of chilled vinho verde, a young, slightly sparkling and light, local white wine.

We also tried some Azeitão ewe's cheese from the hills just behind us. It was very runny and spreadable with a tangy flavour. Azeitão is also famous for its cake rolls, light sponge with a custard filling.

One of our favourite finds though was Moscatel de Setúbal, a sweet, fortified wine served chilled with a twist of lemon peel, as an aperitif.

If only Setúbal could guarantee the weather, we could stayed all winter but the warmer temperatures were beckoning us south.Read more

We slept in a really nice hotel, that we thought was in Sesimbra, but happen to be in the middle of nowhere. We arrived late, so in the moment we got to the hotel we got out again and drove to the town of Sesimbra. The town looks like a smaller and nicer version of Eilat that got stuck in the 80th. We had sushi, and got back to the hotel. This hotel as nice, but a lot of noises of different stuff. In the morning, Yaara chilled by the pool while Yam slept. We started to drive around the area. It wasn't our best day ever, and we mostly walked away from places all day. We had very late lunch in a small restorant full of flies, and fake flowers. The toasts were surprisingly tasty.
After the beautiful sunset, we got back to the hotel. Yam cried the entire 12 minutes drive back, so we decided to stay for dinner at the hotel. It was OK. After dinner we went for the hot tub, while Yam slept in the stroller. The hotel kept making problems, when Yaara ran out of water in the middle of the shower. She finished by using cold water from 6L tank they brought us. It was a good day :)Read more

Stopped in this small town by the river, after Yam woke up. First we needed to deal with a big poop event, that includes the car seat, clothes and one dirty baby. We walked around, spent as much time as possible in the supermarket's air conditioning, and head out the moment Yam fell asleep again.